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"AFTER THIS UNIVERSAL
WAR the people have obtained
extraordinary capacity to
hearken to the divine teachings, for
the wisdom of this war is this: That
it may become proven to all that
the fire of war is world-consuming,
whereas the rays of peace are world-enlightening.
One is death, the
other is life; one is extinction, the
other is immortality; one is the most
great calamity, the other is the most
great bounty; one is darkness, the
other is light; one is eternal humiliation,
and the other is everlasting
glory; one is the destroyer of the
foundation of man, the other is the
founder of the prosperity of the
human race.”
--PHOTO--
Group of scientists, among them Dr. David Starr Jordan of “Stanford” (third from left) attending the Food Conservation Conference in Honolulu. (See article, page 206.)
| VOL. 15 | OCTOBER, 1924 | No. 7 |
THE CIRCLING of the earth by the American air-men is an epoch making event. The world’s progress has been swift since Columbus first essayed the unknown waters of the Atlantic, and Magellan gave his life to the first bold circling of the earth. Undoubtedly air-travel will improve as much as ocean travel has; and the prolonged struggles and dangers of the intrepid “round-the-world” fliers will prove but a preliminary step toward the perfecting of air-flight to a degree now inconceivable.
The results of such improved air-travel will be of great social and political importance, a great factor in the evolution of the human race along every line, just as the discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth century and the later invention of steamships and railroads have lifted men out of a dense insular ignorance and racial and religious prejudice into a knowledge and appreciation of each other sufficiently great to make possible the World Message of Bahá’u’lláh for a universal civilization. So the complete perfection of the airship, with the discovery of new and cheaper sources of power, will be the cause of such tremendous movement of peoples over the surface of the earth as to make impossible the maintenance of national or racial barriers, either of a material or spiritual kind. Thus the very elements are conspiring to abolish racial prejudices and establish oneness; and we hail the remarkable achievement of Lieutenant Smith and his associates as a very important step toward the coming unity of mankind.
IT IS SMALL wonder that the children of this day and generation are motor-active rather than book-minded. Parents should not be discouraged because their children do not read the classics as diligently as did children of the past generation. Much of classic literature was written to enable people to while away idle time. Today, what with automobiles, radio, and increased activities along all lines of scientific progress, there is very little idle time. Consequently much of our so-called classic literature is obsolete. Let us not lament its passing. We must not blame our children for preferring magazines on invention and scientific progress to the DeCoverly Papers or Bracebridge Hall. Their choice is a wise one.
And these children, who refuse to bury themselves in Dickens’ novels, as did their forbears, can drive automobiles magnificently from their early teens, and know the whole mechanism of power machinery and radio far better than do their elders. It is an age of transition. A new race is being evolved, with new gifts and predilections. We adults should not be disturbed because the youth of today have not the same interests as we had a generation ago, before the existence of electric cars, automobiles, wireless, moving pictures, and aeroplanes.
ONE OF THE great triumphs of modern chemistry is the recent discovery by Dr. E. C. C. Baley, University of Liverpool, of a process for making sugar artificially, similar to the
way in which the green leaves of plants have been yielding it for countless ages. Dr. Baley based his process on the use of ultra violet rays to produce on carbon dioxide and water the same reaction which the sunshine is constantly producing on those chemical compounds as existing in the leaves of plants. An enormous amount of energy is required to make by this means the artificial production of sugar.
This discovery is but an added instance of man’s remarkable conquest of nature, of the power of human intelligence over inert matter. But it also gives us cause to reflect upon the miracles of chemical transformation going on daily under our very eyes within the leaves of plants and trees—the great miracle of the transformation of inorganic chemicals into a living tissue which is available as food for the animal kingdom. Were it not for the vegetable world the animal world, including man, could not survive. The cause of this plant alchemy is sunshine. From this magic source of all life upon our planet comes the energy that is constantly building up plant fibre from inorganic substances. No wonder that the Sun is taken as a spiritual symbol, for as the physical luminary is the ultimate source of all life and physical progress upon this planet, so the Spiritual Sun, the Manifestation of God, is the Source of all our spiritual life and progress.
"CHEMISTS PREDICT more deadly war.” One does not have to be a member of the American Chemical Society in order to share in this apprehension. Terrors dwarfing those of the recent world conflict will be imposed by wars of the future, and there will be no refuge from death and torture, declared Dr. BaeKeIand, the president of the society, at its recent convention in Ithaca. When the art of warfare reaches such a climax that there will be no safety for non-combatants, not even for legislators, war will cease by mutual consent. Bahá’u’lláh, half a century before the deadly application of chemistry to warfare, foretold this outcome. He predicted the annihilation of whole cities by new and wholesale means of destruction. And while he declared that war must eventually cease from the very exhaustion and war-weariness of mankind, he urged its renunciation through the means of love and the spiritual power of world unity.
The enlightened president of the American Chemical Society, realizing the horror of the world refusing to cease from war until a whole or partial extinction of the human race forces this outcome, urges the remedy of a more efficacious religion as a means of removing war-lust from the hearts of men. “The remedy of these horrors,” he says, “lies not in stopping the use of chemistry in warfare—The greater remedy seems to lie in more of a plain, generous, weekday religion rather than a Sunday religion of words.”
HALF A CENTURY ago Bahá’u’lláh gave forth to the world as one of the necessities for the bringing about of a universal civilization and brotherhood of man, the establishment of an auxiliary universal language in which all races and nationalities would find a common means of communication. At that time little thought was given to such a need. But in this day of wide travel and intercommunication there has arisen a very active interest in the question of a universal language. The final impulse to such a movement will be the development of international broadcasting, the use of which will be extremely limited unless some universal language be chosen by international agreement, as Bahá’u’lláh urged, and taught henceforth side by side with the mother tongue in all the schools of the world.
"INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING, which will link up the furthermost corners of the earth, is closer at hand than the public imagines,” states the vice-president of the Radio
Corporation of America. And he adds, “To me the real thrill lies in the great humanitarian aspects of radio and its significance not only as a national but as an international factor.” The newly invented method of relaying, or rebroadcasting, will indeed make it possible for a central station to send forth its message to the whole world. The day of isolation, of provincialism, is swiftly passing. The world, being thus knit together by material means, cannot remain long under diverse and competitive cultures and religions. It is not only imperative that world unity be established, but it is inevitable. All who are contributing, in whatever way, to this beneficent and predestined end are working hand in hand with destiny and receive the aid of the divine forces. There is no greater goal to strive for, no greater cause to serve in this day and generation than that of world unity and brotherhood.
FROM the near East and Persia comes more welcome news. “Americans know little of the tremendous changes that have come over the Moslem world in the near East,” says Dr. Paul Munroe of the International Institute of Teacher’s College, New York, who has lately returned from a five months’ visit in that region. “An intellectual upheaval is at its height there, giving promise of future economic development. This movement has found expression in a desire for education, a development of literature, and a dissemination of information by means of the establishment of newspapers.”
Speaking of Persia he says, “After two years Persia has balanced her budget and is beginning to pay off her indebtedness. Much of this is due to the fact that Americans are supervising the country’s finances. It was a work begun by W. Morgan Shuster. Order has come out of chaos, and American prestige is high as a result.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá has spoken clearly of the coming wonderful rapprochement between Persia and America. Apart from spiritual reasons for such a unity there is a strong cause for friendship in the rather similar temperament and mentality of these two races. Both Americans and Persians profit by a dry and vigorous climate, producing mental and physical energy.
The Persians in their playfulness and love of fun, the result of an exuberant climate, as in their ability to think in a clear-cut and practical way come nearer to the American type than does any other race in Asia, almost one might say in Europe. Once trade and industrial relations become well established between the two countries great progress may be anticipated for Persia, and a rapidly growing friendship and mutual esteem between these two countries. Let it be remembered that Persia was the first country in history to make a religion of work and worship combined. Clearing of forests, draining of swamps, and other deeds for the advancement of civilization were placed by the Zend Avesta as a form of service not only to man but to God. It is fitting that the Bahá’í Movement, which glorifies work done in the spirit of service to the exalted value of prayer, should originate in Persia and fructify in our own land, where activity is the very life-blood of the people.
"WE MUST not begin with words and end with words. We must act and teach mankind with the irresistible force of example. We must be willing to give up our own ideas and opinions when the public weal is concerned. We must serve the world of humanity in a befitting manner. We must be self-sacrificing. We must clothe ourselves with the garment of joy and happiness. One drop of deed is better than an ocean of words, and one ounce of action is more valuable than a ton of eloquent speeches.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
YEAR 2000
ORROL L. HARPERI AM GOING to ask you to put on with me the wings of imagination and fly over the world in about the year 2000. Let us leave behind all our pet beliefs and prejudices, all our disagreements and troubles, and soar into the atmosphere of the future.
About us on every side we see air-ships traveling in regular courses—some carrying freight and some human passengers.
We look for dreadnaughts and war-ships but none are to be seen. Instead an international police patrols the waters and preserves order among the merchant-marine that ply the ocean from coast to coast.
On land the trees are the first to catch our eye. They look different from the shade trees we are accustomed to seeing, for they are all heavily laden. None but fruit or nut-bearing trees are to be found.
The fields are verdant and delightfully productive. Large areas of well-kept farms radiate from and surround numerous small settlements.
Each settlement is marked by two outstanding structures. One of these buildings is plainly a wonderful public school, expressing in complete detail the dreams of the early century educators. The other structure, bearing the name “House of Justice,” especially piques our curiosity.
We are told that this “House of Justice” is in reality a central store-house, established for the benefit of every member of the community.
There comes vaguely to our minds the memory of North Dakota farmers who long ago tried some sort of community plan. But this “House of Justice” we are informed is a success as a community benefactor, being supported by the community, which in turn supports it.
The store-house has seven definite revenues and seven definite expenditures:
1. Income tax.
2. Inheritance tax.
3. Tax on animals.
4. All things discovered whose owners cannot be found.
5. One-third of all treasures found in the earth (such as oil wells, buried cities, etc.).
6. One-third of the output of all mines.
7. Voluntary contributions.
1. General running expenses of the institution; salaries, administration of public safety, including a hygiene departrnent.
2. Taxes to the general government.
3. Taxes to the state government.
4. Support of orphans.
5. Support of cripples and incurables.
6. Support of educational institutions.
7. Supplying deficiencies in the incomes of the poor.
The mention of “income tax” causes us to groan in memory; but the words “supplying deficiencies in the incomes of the poor” makes us wonder if by chance we have strayed within the “pearly gates,” and we look about for St. Peter. But no such royal judge is in sight—only people, men and women, busy, busy, busy—and most mysteriously happy.
We simply must know about this tax system. It cannot be the one we have known or the people could not be so joyful. So we inquire from a venerable
man who seems to take pleasure in being of service to others.
“The plan for the income tax,” we are told, “is world wide. It has been established and is regulated by an International House of Justice, made up of representatives from the National House of Justice of each nation on earth. Its aim is to prevent either congestion or lack of capital in any part of the body-politic. It supplies the needs of the working man and at the same time protects the rights of the wealthy man.”
We look at each other and shake our heads. “Impossible!” we think.
But the venerable gentleman goes on to explain. “The world is a great federation of peoples, each member of which realizes that his happiness, his individual well-being depends entirely on the happiness and well-being of all other members of the human race.”
How such a spirit of altruism, how such an illumined self-interest can be a universal reality is beyond our comprehension. But we keep still and listen.
“This first revenue that is paid into the community fund,” our informant goes on to say, “is based on a man’s net income. If a farmer’s expenses equal his necessary expenditures he is not taxed at all. If his income be $500.00 and his expenses $500.00 he is not required to pay anything into the community fund. If, however, his expenses be $500.00 and his income $1,000.00 he is taxed one-tenth of his net income, or $50.00—leaving a net saving of $450.00.
“If his expenses be $1,000.00 and his income $20,000.00 he will pay into the fund one-fourth of the net profit.
“Again, if his income be $100,000.00 and his expenses $5,000.00, he will pay one-third of his net profits as taxes into the common fund. Say he pays $3,500.00 in addition to the expenditure of $5,000.00 he still has left $60,000.”
Again, if a man’s expenses are $10,000.00 and his income $200,000.00, his income tax will be an even one-half of his net profits, which will still leave him $105,000.00, while his income tax will amount to $95,000.00.”
This is too much for our self-centered minds to accept in silence, and one of us exclaims impatiently, “But that is not fair. That man had brains enough to earn $200,000.00. Why should he not keep what he has fairly earned? Does intelligence count for nothing!”
An expression of wonder looks out at us from the eyes of the wise old man, as he gently replies, “Yes, intelligence counts for everything in the year 2000. It is the intelligent men who are supporting, controlling, educating and illuminating the world of today. They are the pillars upon which this universal civilization stands.
“The intelligent man of today finds his greatest happiness in serving the world of humanity. He realizes the oneness and interdependence of mankind. He looks on all races—the red, the black, the white, the brown, the yellow—as so many flowers in the garden of creation. It is joy to that intelligent man to have a hand in developing the beauty and perfection latent within each human flower; for he realizes that just as a dwarfed, withered, or stunted flower will detract from the beauty of a flower garden, so will an uneducated, untrained, repressed, or sick man be a blight on the garden of human intelligence. Therefore the thinking men of the day are trying in every possible way to increase human intelligence.
“The intelligent man of today sees the nations of the world as the members of one large family—the human family. And that family is a happy group, united in love and co-operation, in educational system and language, in economic adjustment and religion.”
The last is too much for us. Suddenly our suppressed emotions break all bonds, and a veritable uproar of questions and exclamations burst forth. “Religion! Did you say? United in religion?” an incredulous voice exclaims.
And as the wise man gravely nods his
head, our Catholic friends smile complacently—for of course the whole world has become Catholic.
The Protestant friends look a little less certain, for there is a possibility that some other Protestant denomination than the right one may be the one in control.
A follower of Buddha smiles sweetly—for, of course, it must be the gentle spirit of Buddha that has united the people in love.
The followers of Moses have not the slightest doubt that the “faith of our fathers” has at last covered the earth.
While a Mohammedan brother claps his hands in glee at the prospect of a life-time of picnics in the open without the danger of having his food polluted by finding the shadow of a Christian falling across his lunch. Of course the whole world has become Mohammedan.
But when the various creeds and cults mention their names as contestants for the honor of this united religion, the aged man shakes his head and patiently explains, “No religion that still imparts spiritual life and inspiration to any part of the human race has been or ever will be destroyed.
“All religions teach the law of love and co-operation. The followers of all religions believe in One Supreme Creator who radiates His Love and Bounty to all the creational World.
“All religionists believe in an intermediary between that Unknown and Unknowable Essence of the Creator and His creation. They believe in a wonderful being, a super-man, who has attracted by His Perfection the Supreme Rays of Intelligence and reflected them to all contingent beings.
“In times past some called that perfect mirror Moses, some Jesus, some Buddha, some Mohammed, etc. In the early part of the century each religionist believed his particular religion to be the only true pathway to God; and arose in contention and strife over the difference in names of their founders.
“But in this, the year 2000, no such inharmony exists. Religion is recognized as a source of inspiration and uplift; religion is the cause of unity. The different religions that have existed in the past and those that will exist in the future are seen as so many days or periods on which the Supreme Sun has shone; while the Founders of each religion are the Points on the horizon where the Sun has risen each morning.
“The Rising Point of the Sun for one Day is called Moses; the Rising Point of the Sun for another day is called Jesus, another Point, Buddha, another Zoroaster, another Mohammed.
“The names of each day are different, the name of each rising place is different, but it is ever the same Sun that illumines the world, whether it be the sun of Monday or Tuesday, whether it rises from a northern or southern point on the horizon. It is ever the same sun.”
Here we must interrupt again saying, “But after all this explanation, we still cannot reconcile the teachings of Moses and Mohammed, for instance, with the teachings of Jesus. Moses made a law that if a man committed a theft his hand would be cut off, while Jesus prayed for the thief that hung beside him on the cross. Jesus never married, while Mohammed allowed his followers to have four wives. Do you call this agreement, harmony, unity between the founders of religion?”
The wise old man only smiles and replies calmly, “Oh, but you do not understand. Each religion is divided into two parts: First, the true, fundamental, spiritual part that teaches love, love for God and love for God’s creation, that teaches the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man; while the second part of each religion has to do with the material laws that were necessary for the time in which the Prophet lived.
“For example—at the time of Moses the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was necessary—for the lawless peoples whom Moses taught had to
be ruled by fear. Again, Mohammed limited his followers to four wives. That seems terrible to your early century minds to think that someone, who is claimed by millions of people to be a prophet of God, should countenance polygamy. But I realize,” the venerable teacher continues, “that it is because you do not know the condition of the people to whom Mohammed gave his teachings. They were the savage tribes of the Arabian peninsula—so wild and unrestrained that each man was accustomed to taking as many wives as he wished. All a man had to do to call a woman his wife was to go out into the street and throw a cloak over her shoulders. To such an untrained and irresponsible people as this Mohammed gave first his teachings of love for the one God and His creation; and second his material laws. One of the material laws limited those wild and savage tribes to four wives, provided, Mohammed added, that they could be treated equally, an edict which he probably intended as a subtle step toward monogamy and a tremendous advance over the condition that had existed before.
“And so you see that it was lack of differentiation between the unchangeable, spiritual teachings and the ever-changing material laws of these founders of religion that caused so much dissention in the early part of the century.
“In this the year 2000 people understand the fundamental harmony underlying all religions, all creation in fact.—Here I see a man who is disgusted with all this talk about religion.” And our instructor turned with a smile to our friend the scientist.
“I perceive that you have not yet discovered, what we of the twenty-first century know, that true religion and true science are not antagonistic. Our definition of religion is man’s love for God as expressed in his attitude toward mankind; while we know that science makes rational and systematic our search for truth.
“The scientific man of today sees all phenomena involved in all phenomena. He sees the atom as a miniature universe, governed by the same universal laws that control the largest bodies in creation.
“The scientist of this year 2000 is not antagonistic to the religion of the day, because religion has cast off its man-made creeds and dogmas that in times past kept its followers bound by tradition and bigotry. The religionist of today sees as many roads to perfection as there are human beings—for science has proved that no two phenomena are exactly alike.
“All men, scientists and religionists alike, search independently for truth, and accept nothing that does not appeal to their reason.”
A PAUSE ensues. The venerable gentleman seems lost in thought. I personally feel overwhelmed by such an ideal concept. I have nothing to say. But it is not so with our friend Mr. Educator. The idea of a universal education appeals to him. He asks for an explanation, and our venerable friend seems especially pleased to comply with the request.
“The International Court of Justice has established an educational system that is universal throughout the world. It has also formed laws that make it compulsory for every boy and girl to not only have the same fundamental education but to be trained in some trade, art, or profession. That is why you see all these people so happy in their work. Each one is trained in the work he or she is most fitted to succeed at. In this age one of the highest forms of worship is work done in the spirit of love and service. In the year 2000 we witness the glorification of labor.
“The educational system also includes instruction in an international language. Long ago the International Court of justice empowered a committee of linguists, highly versed in all known
languages, to form a synthetic language that could be taught in all the schools of the world, so that the child along with his home tongue could learn this international language. There were attempts made to form an international language in your day. Esperanto was perhaps the most notable example. During your travels you will notice that a child from Italy can converse freely with a child from Germany, France, America, China—in fact with children of all nations. Since the use of this language has become universal, misunderstanding between races and nations due to difference in language has been entirely wiped out.
At this point I interrupted, “One of the expenditures of your community fund is itemized as ‘supplying deficiencies in the incomes of the poor.’ I want to hear about that.”
“Oh yes,” our kind friend acquiesces, “we did not get to that. Suppose an emergency were to arise. A farmer’s income due to failure of crop or some unforseen circumstance is $500, while his expenses are $1,000. The farmer lacks $500 to have enough to pay his debts. In such a case the local House of Justice will pay to him the sum of $500 from the common fund, so he will not be in need.
“The poor, who have not sufficient earning capacity to properly clothe, house, and feed themselves, have their necessary expenses defrayed by the general fund.
“Orphans without means, who are being educated by the community, have all their expenses paid by the House of Justice.
“And other members of the community, who for valid reasons are incapacitated, the blind, the old, the deaf, their comfort will be looked after. In the village no one remains in want.”
“But what about the cities, state, nation?” is asked.
“In the cities the same plan is carried out only on a larger scale.”
“Let us go and see the cities for ourselves,” someone exclaims.
“But I am not ready to leave our generous informant yet,” I object. “I may want to ask more questions.”
“I will go with you, then you can see and listen at the same time,” replies the gracious gentleman. Of course this is delightful, so we again begin our travels.
As we visit one city after another, I am impressed with the fact that there are no congested districts of foreigners such as I have been accustomed to see.
Our guide informs us that in this the year 2000 there are no foreigners. “There are immigrants to be sure; but the International Court of Arbitration has worked out a system that takes care of the immigrant in all countries, and makes him an asset to the community.
"Any person entering a country is examined for his innate capabilities and is placed in a location and a work that he is fitted to succeed at.
“Every man that has agricultural tendencies is encouraged in farming. It is a recognized fact that well regulated and productive farms act as a fundamental basis for a nation’s prosperity.”
We visit the penitentiaries and find them more like schools and hospitals than places for severe correction or harsh retaliation. “Criminals have been discovered to be either ignorant, sick, or mentally deficient,” we are informed. “Their number has been reduced to a minimum since education and the healing art have advanced so marvelously.”
The factories, mines and all large establishments, where numerous employees are needed, are wonderful places to visit. Each employee acts as if this business were his own business. His interest and joy in work are phenomenal.
As I express my thoughts aloud our guide responds, “You are right. Each employee has a personal interest in the business. Besides his salary he owns a certain number of shares, that pay him dividends monthly or annually on the net profits of the concern.”
“History shows that as far back as 1915 certain employers began sharing
the profits of their business with their employees. Today the system is an established thing. It has entirely wiped out strikes for wages, that were so troublesome years ago.”
Here Mr. Educator interrupts and changes the subject, “Ever since we visited those wonderful schools, I have wanted a question answered. I am amazed at the large number of instructors that your educational system supports—all stamped as men and women of superior intelligence. It has been my experience that where a man or woman remained faithful in the field of teaching, he or she was more or less a martyr to the cause of education. All the instructors I have known have been under-paid.”
“Yes, that condition existed for many years,” our informant replies. “But ever since the International House of Justice established the inheritance tax as a regular revenue for each local storehouse, teachers have received adequate compensation.
“All inheritance estates are divided into seven divisions: Children, husband and wife, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, teachers. If anyone dies without heirs the House of Justice is given the inheritance to use for the good of the community. In case there are heirs, one-third of the estate is paid into the community fund and the other two-thirds is divided among the heirs.
“You will notice that teachers constitute one of the heirs. And so it is possible, by means of this continuous support from all inheritance estates, to get the most efficient and best qualified men and women in the world to devote their time and intelligence to the service of educating the people of the earth.
“The schools themselves, you will remember, are built and supported by the community fund.
“Thus you see how interwoven are the educational and economic systems of this the year 2000. The acquirement of desirable educators and ideal schools depends on economic prosperity; while economic prosperity in turn depends on the activity of educators and their vehicles the schools in training the mind of man and thus developing his intelligence.
“So we can truly say that intelligence is the axis around which this universal civilization revolves.
“It is intelligence that makes man realize his oneness with other members of the human race.
“It is intelligence that makes him see the essential harmony that exists between true science and true religion.
“It is intelligence that allows man to recognize the fundamental unity in all religions.
“It is intelligence that enables man to recognize the gift of work.
“It is intelligence that prompts an employer to share his profits with his employees.
“It is intelligence that teaches man the necessity of normalizing rather than equalizing or monopolizing the distribution of capital.
“It is intelligence that makes compulsory a universal system of education and training for both boys and girls.
“It is intelligence that has united the world in a federation of nations.
“It is intelligence that has caused the International House of Justice to limit the boundaries of all nations; to change the dreadnaughts and warships into a great merchant marine; and to form an international policy to protect the rights of all countries; to limit the standing armies of nations to a few battalions for preserving internal order.
“It was intelligence that caused the International Court to establish this twenty-first century economic system, that connects local community with state, state with nation, and that binds the nations together in a great federation of nations.
"It is intelligence that causes these wheels within wheels to revolve safely and continuously.
“This year 2000 has become distinguished for its spirit of cooperation and
brotherly love—through the agency of intelligence. Intelligence is the secret of all progress; and all intelligence comes from One Supreme Source. It is the Supreme Creative Intelligence that supplies each ray of individual intelligence.
“It was the Supreme Intelligence animating the temple of man that caused that Great Sacrifice, Bahá’u’lláh, in the middle of the nineteenth century to sow the seeds that have developed into this ‘heaven on earth’ that we call a universal civilization.”
ACCORDING TO BAHA’U’LLAH there has never been but one religion in the world, and there can be but one. There is one God, as Muslim, Christian, Jew and Zoroastrian all declare, and the worship, love and service of the one God is religion. The founders of all the great religious communities have taught the same religion, but each has taught it in accordance with the requirements of the times in which, and the capacity of the people to whom, he came. Each has played his part in the education and upliftment of humanity, but in no case has a final revelation been given. The truth is infinite, and no revelation in limited human language, intelligible to limited human minds, can be complete, exhaustive or final. The aim of each prophetic revelation is to prepare men’s hearts and minds for higher revelations to follow. Reverence for all the Prophets is the basis of true religion and the chief means of bringing about the unity of mankind. Bahá’u’lláh says in His last Will and Testament: “O people of the World! The religion of God is for the sake of love and union; make it not the cause of enmity and conflict . . . . The hope is cherished that the people of Bahá shall ever turn to the Blessed Word: Lo! ALL ARE OF GOD! the All-Glorious Word that, like unto water, quencheth the fire of hatred and rancour which doth srnoulder in hearts and breasts. By this simple Word shall the diverse sects of the world attain unto the light of real union.” The externals of religion must change from time to time, like those of the bud, the blossom and the fruit, but through all these outward changes the one Life is pressing to fuller and riper expression.
'THE GLORIOUS TASK, to which the founders of the Bahá’í Movement have set themselves, is the same task to which Christ and all the Holy Prophets of old set themselves—the regeneration of mankind and the creations of ‘new heavens and a new earth,’ only a later phase of the task. The task is God’s and between those whom He has chosen to direct the work at different stages, there is no enmity or rivalry. One ploughs, another sows, another waters, another reaps, but there is one Lord who ‘giveth the increase.’ It is not by the work of the ploughman alone, nor by that of the sower alone. but by that of all together that the harvest is finally attained. As ’Abdu’l-Bahá says: ‘It is not necessary to lower Abraham to raise Jesus. It is not necessary to lower Jesus to proclaim Bahá’u’lláh. We must welcome the Truth of God wherever we behold it. The essence of the question is that all these great Messengers came to raise the Divine Stand- ard of Perfections. All of them shine as orbs in the same heaven of the Divine Will. All of them give Light to the world.’” (J. E. Esslemont, in "Bahá’u’lláh and His Message.”)
E. T. HALL
“I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come.” Haggi 2:7.
“Then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory.” Matthew 24:30.THE GREAT DESIRE which arose from the depth of the heart of humanity prior to the French revolution, finding expression in the words “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity,” was caused by the Teachings of the prophets of the Lord—that men must be just and brotherly. The teachings of the Lord had at last taken strong root in the hearts of men, and, while they looked upon themselves as atheists and reasoning beings independent of all churches, they were, nevertheless, inspired by the brotherliness of Christ.
Oppressed, kept in ignorance and poverty by the inhuman Feudal System, the people throughout Europe were in great darkness—as in a prison. They realized that they were living in darkness, yet felt that could they but smash the door and break open the shutters which Feudalism had fastened around them, they would find light and liberty, together with joy, in universal fellowship.
With a terrible effort, born of despair, the people of France emancipated themselves, and their cry of “Liberty, Equality’ and Fraternity” was echoed in every European country and re-echoed in the Occident and in the Orient. The flames of their passionate zeal scorched the very thrones of tyranny, for their armies, led by a gigantic though deluded intellect, spread the conflagration of war into every part of Europe. The movements of Napoleon appeared as tongues of fire darting hither and thither from the smoking furnace of France, and the earth was filled with consternation and violence whilst Feudalism was being destroyed and new hopes were being born. It was as though humanity was suffering from a terrible volcanic eruption whilst its heaven was wholly obscured by the dense clouds of war.
Amongst the various aspects of this seemingly terrible calamity, one especially may be noticed. The Word of God, which is faithful and true, had assured the people that if they would seek, they would find; if they would ask, they would receive; it they knocked, the door would be opened. In their own way and according to the times, they had sought emancipation; they had asked for light; they had knocked for the door of fellowship to be opened. Now, Feudalism was everywhere in the throes of dissolution, and France was calling for the brotherhood of man.
What stood in the way? The world was vast; great seas separated the nations; mighty mountain-chains divided the countries. But after the great revolution, important inventions were made. The world became covered with networks of railways and telegraphs; mountains were pierced; oceans were traversed by swift steamships. Space and time were rapidly being reduced. Whilst this new order was maturing, the peoples of all nations were voicing themselves in increasingly popular governments; slavery was being abolished; knowledge was increasing; education moving apace; power-driven machinery was multiplying the output of manufactured
articles. Emancipation was in the very atmosphere and the world of humanity was reaching a higher stage, a greater vision, a world-wide outlook. Narrow bounds were disappearing; universality was coming. The Gospel of the Kingdom was being preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.
One thing was lacking to bring about the brotherhood of man, so much desired by all people. Deluded, they had wandered far from the Right Way to obtain brotherhood. Led by clever but deluded leaders, they deemed it possible to knit the nations into unity by the application of force, i. e.—by compulsion. But brotherhood and tyranny cannot live together. The most powerful nations vied with one another for the supremacy of their nationality in all the world. Each felt that it was ordained to lead the destinies of the combined peoples of the world. Fraternity disappeared as jealousies increased. Armaments were increased with feverish haste; the most terrible competition the earth had ever witnessed went on apace, until a spark exploded the accumulated magazines and the manhood, womanhood, wealth and optimism of the bulk of humanity were floundering in the horrible mess of the world war. Again the heaven of humanity was blotted out by the awe-inspiring black clouds of human animosity. The nature of the French Revolution was to destroy Feudalism; the nature of the world war was to destroy Nationalism. Henceforward a World-Parliament was an imperative necessity for the well-being and peace of humanity.
Meanwhile, had not the people’s governors been so indifferent to the Word of God, they might have perceived that the frantic knocking of the people of France upon the door of Hope, for the blessing of fraternity, had been answered. The door was opened in the East. One had appeared to plainly show the people the Right Way to universal brotherhood. The “Open Door” was the appearance of the Bab; the “Right Way” was the appearance of the Servant of God, ’Abdu’l-Bahá; and the Word of God in Bahá’u’láh gave the necessary assurance. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6) The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh declared that by divine love in the human heart the way was open to the Ideal—the Zion of the soul—universal brotherhood. He gave ’Abdu’l-Bahá for the promised “Sign”—the symbol of God’s Love in the world, the Rainbow Path of the Right Way to Unity, Peace and Reconciliation.
If the historical dates of the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789) and of the end of the world war—and the end of Turkish misrule in the Holy Land—(1918) be taken as significant, we find that the central nineteen years are from 1844 to 1863, and it was in these respective years that the Declaration of the Bab and the birth of ’Abdu’l-Bahá and the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh, took place. Thus were the blessed words of Christ fulfilled: “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Napoleon, the man of impatience, violence and war, failed entirely to establish fraternity, because his method was utterly opposed to Christ’s method; but the Servant of God, ’Abdu’l-Bahá, through Divine Love, patiently, meekly and peacefully, established fraternity firmly in the world, fulfilling the prophecies.
Standing under the heavy black clouds of war, that still obscure heaven; meditating upon the sombre clouds which obscured heaven in the days of the great Revolution, we easily grasp the meaning of the Sign of the Son of Man—the Rainbow of the Covenant of Peace—in the clouds of heaven. The One whose life manifested that Covenant came with power and great glory.
“Blessing be upon whomsoever . . . is of those who are assured.”
THE FATHERHOOD of God, His loving kindness and beneficence are apparent to all. In His mercy He provides fully and amply for His creatures. All created things are visible manifestations of his Fatherhood, mercy and heavenly bestowals. Human brotherhood is likewise as clear and evident as the sun, for all are servants of one God, belong to one humankind, inhabit the same globe, are sheltered beneath the overshadowing dome of heaven and submerged in the sea of divine mercy. Human brotherhood and dependence exist because mutual helpfulness and co-operation are the two necessary principles underlying human welfare. This is the physical relationship of mankind.
There is another brotherhood, the spiritual, which is higher, holier and superior to all others. It is heavenly; it emanates from the breaths of the Holy Spirit and the effulgence of merciful attributes, it is founded upon spiritual susceptibilities. This brotherhood is established by the Manifestations of the Holy One.
THERE IS PERFECT brotherhood underlying humanity . . . The bond of fraternity exists in humanity because all are intelligent beings created in the realm of evolutionary growth . . . There is brotherhood natal in mankind because all are elements of one human society subject to the necessity of agreement and cooperation . . . This is physical fellowship which insures material happiness in the human world. The stronger it becomes, the more will mankind advance and the circle of materiality be enlarged.
The real brotherhood is spiritual, for physical brotherhood is subject to separation. The wars of the outer world of existence separate humankind, but in the eternal world of spiritual brotherhood separation is unknown. Material or physical association is based upon earthly interests, but divine fellowship owes its existence to the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual brotherhood may be likened to the light, while the souls of humankind are as lanterns.
MATERIAL Brotherhood does not prevent nor remove warfare; it does not dispel differences among mankind. But spiritual alliance destroys the very foundation of war, effaces differences entirely, promulgates the oneness of humanity, revivifies mankind, causes hearts to turn to the Kingdom of God. . . . Through this divine brotherhood, the material world will become resplendent with the lights of divinity, the mirror of materiality will acquire its lights from heaven, and justice will be established in the world so that no trace of darkness, hatred and enmity shall be visible. . . . We must appreciate these things, and strive in order that the utmost desire of the Prophets may now be realized and all the glad-tidings be fulfilled.
BROTHERHOOD and sisterhood that is founded on a universal love is precious. . . . In the world of God it will become more clear and precious. It is not like the material kind which is soon forgotten and, perhaps, changed to hatred before this life is over.
Man must learn the lesson of kindness from God Himself. Just as God is kind to all humanity, man must also
be kind to his fellow creatures. If he be kind and loving towards all his fellowmen, towards all creation, then indeed is he worthy of being pronounced the image and likeness of God.
KINDNESS IS of various kinds, and Brotherhood is different in sorts. At one time brotherhood is of the family type. . . the second kind of fraternity is that which is manifest in patriotism; . . . the third kind of fraternity is that which characterizes racial unity, the oneness of the race. The fourth kind of brotherhood is that of species or kind—the love of humankind. Although this is unlimited, it is still subject to change. Hence even from this the looked-for result does not appear. And what is the looked-for result? Loving kindness amongst mankind and a firm, unshakable brotherhood; a brotherhood of that type which includes all the significances. Now it has become evident and manifest that through the family, or through the instrumentality of the oneness of kind, or oneness of race, or oneness of nativity, this looked-for or longed-for object is not attained, because all of these are subject to change. . . thus we can conclude that unlimited brotherhood of any of these kinds does not suffice.
Therefore the Lord of mankind has caused His Holy Divine Manifestations to come hither. He has caused His books to be revealed in order to establish spiritual brotherhood and through the power of the Holy Spirit perfect fraternity to be realized amongst mankind. And when through the Power of the Holy Spirit fraternity and amity are realized amongst men, this brotherhood and love being spiritual in character, this kindness being heavenly, these bonds divine, a unity appears which is indissoluble, inseparable, unchangeable and never subject to transformation. It is ever the same and will remain the same. . . . Hence it becomes evident that the cause of real brotherhood, the cause of cordial co-operation and reciprocity and the cause of real kindness is no other than the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Without that it is impossible. You can realize some degree of fraternity through other motives, but this is a limited brotherhood and subject to change. When Brotherhood is founded upon the Holy Spirit, it is eternal, changeless and unlimited.
THE SPIRITUAL BROTHERHOOD which is enkindled and established through the breaths of the Holy Spirit unites nations and removes the cause of warfare and strife. It transforms mankind into one great family and establishes the foundations of the oneness of humanity. Until all nations and peoples become united by the bonds of the Holy Spirit in this real fraternity, until national and international prejudices are effaced in the reality of this spiritual brotherhood, true progress, prosperity and lasting happiness will not be attained by man. This is the century of new and universal nationhood. This is the century of motion, divine stimulus and accomplishment; the century of human solidarity, the century of Universal Peace and the reality of the divine kingdom.
If the holy books were rightly understood none of this discord and distress would have existed, but love and fellowship would have prevailed instead. The essential purpose of the religion of God is to establish unity among mankind. The Divine Manifestations were Founders of the means of fellowship and love. . . . Nothing in the world can be imagined or rendered easy without union and agreement; and the true divine religion is the most perfect cause of friendship and union in the world.
Blessed is he who practices loving kindness and co-operation, for he will be encircled with celestial benedictions.
Blessed is he who proclaims the doctrine of spiritual brotherhood, for he shall be the child of light.
THE SUDDEN widening from time to time of the dull limitations of consciousness seems to be a common human experience. Even stolid and inarticulate people are lifted occasionally into a freer realm where they become enfranchised with a glorious sense of detachment, lightness, and wonder. A great love, a great sorrow, a great joy, a great sacrifice enables us to break through the restrictions of ordinary life and enter, if only briefly, those spacious confines of spirit that the soul calls home. The primary desire of the soul is apparently release from struggle and this poignant homesickness is the basis of all religion: a divine nostalgia that transports the most commonplace of us now and then to a city eternal in the heavens where all the anxious and unremitting details of life seem trivial or grotesque, and our whole human mechanism of fear and care appears a clumsy mode of sham.
The power to enrich the consciousness and lift the life into a new dimension is the peculiar quality of the prophets of God. They draw for us new perspectives making the remote, alluring, wondrous, shimmering, flying glories of life the real and attainable things, and removing to a distant and hazy horizon those turbulent and fragile desires that so obsess and preoccupy men who are unfamiliar with their heavenly designs. They are to man that thing indispensable to his existence—a friend. Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed are from their graves today better friends to their followers than any living person. They exercise a spell and an authority over them that time itself cannot dissolve. A hundred Congresses and a thousand Volsteads could not accomplish what the one authoritative command of Mohammed, to abstain from drink, has produced amongst millions of people for hundreds of years.
This new and vigorous functioning of the liberated heart, as it comes under the influence and guidance of God’s Manifestation, leads to that abundant life in comparison to which the fierce, struggling, febrile life of the world is merely a form of death. “Leave the dead to bury their dead,” is spoken of those who, in the feverish haste and noise and vulgarity of the common life, untroubled by a vision, concerned only with a nervous pressing on toward greater bulk and grosser contacts, with a cynical arrogance of disbelief in anything that does not occupy space or stimulate the senses, are as impervious to the light of reality as if they lay six feet under ground. To raise man from the dead is indeed a miracle but it is one that has been performed innumerable times, when the irresistible Saviour takes man by the hand and lifts him into the eternal life of his reality.
The almost appalling velocity of one’s ascent as one throws overboard all the ballast of self-seeking, suspicion, superciliousness, ambition, intrigue, condescension, fault-finding, impatience, oppression, malice and fear, has for those who seek the abundant life none of the danger that such a course might have for the human aeronaut: for the light, fine atmosphere to which they are soaring is not alien to the soul, but its natural habitat.
Suffocating humanity can only be revived from the noxious atmosphere of greed, selfishnes and discord to which earthly standards and strivings subject it, by the gale of God’s call through his
messenger, to throw wide the portals of heart and mind to the purifying air of the spirit.
The recrudescence of Epicureanism in every century tells the frank story of the soul’s desire to find its fulfillment in earthly confines; it cries out for peace and ease in this world and only after mordant disillusionment does it learn that the path to peace is that via dolorosa of ardor and heroism that leads to the utter abnegation of self and brings the only emancipation that the soul can ever know, complete obedience and submission to the will of God.
Peace to the ordinary mind connotes rest. What presents a more scathing commentary on the oppression and heartlessness of the past than the way in which the common soul of the over-worked world was longing for rest; the most popular hymns were those that looked forward to a Sunday-School-picnic-May-festival heaven, and death was a “long rest”; no effort, no progress, no accomplishment—the soul caught forever in a paralysis of absolutism that bespoke an eternal stagnation.
But to the prophets of God peace is the release of incalculable energy, the galvanizing of ceaseless activities; peace is the final reconciliation of the soul with that Power against which its ancient and primordial struggle has ever been waged, that Power that annihilates it in order to give it life. We see this drama enacted in all the details of existence every day, a spectacle so familiar that it has ceased to be arresting. “Unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die it shall in no wise bring forth.” The only course that can bring peace is sacrifice, the only course that can bring sacrifice is faith, the only course that can bring faith is love, and the only love that is great enough to inspire faith and sacrifice and bring the soul to the “peace that passeth understanding” is the intoxicating love of the Manifestation of God.
The paradox, as an intellectual concept, is not difficult to grasp, but as a matter of spiritual realization it comes very hard. To re-educate the soul to the profound understanding that only by relinquishing a thing do we truly possess it; that only by dying to self do we really live; that only by losing do we ultimately find, this courageous task is a super-human program. And still there can be no release for the soul except in this simple and mighty conception that the path to peace is the path to self-forgetfulness. The private pretensions of the ego cause all the contention, misery and suffering of unfulfilled desire.
The real giving up of the self, constituting the only release from struggle that the soul can ever know, is not possible until men firmly grasp the essential paradox that to think of the self, its preferments, its inordinate ambitions, and crude vanities, brings no happiness; to forget the self and be caught up in the unlimited joy of a great ideal, the ineffable adoration of a divine Guide and Seer, brings a security and radiance that no self-seeking, no fulfillment of personal ambition could ever know.
The attempt to coerce oneself into this attitude by mere act of will produces the repressed and sterile attitude of the Stoic. Only those “stern masters of tenderness,” of whom in the divine successsion Abdu’l-Bahá is the latest, can inform the wilful soul of its untried and limitless capacities for sacrifice and through sacrifice for joy and peace. There is no permanent joy and no permanent peace until the whole personality has been eagerly surrendered to the unremitting service of the Servant of God.
This transition from master to servant, from brute to man, from struggle to peace is not remote and wistful; it is immediate and demonstrable. This mystical experience of passing through the power of God’s love, from a seIf-centered to a selfless existence is sufficiently common to have caught the attention of the great psychologists who offer us a scientific explanation of conversion. In this transmutation each questing soul is a Copernicus discovering anew the truth
of a theocentric rather than an egocentric universe.
But never in the history of conversion has this transition been made or this journey accomplished without the new rapturuous, incommunicable recognition of the God of Love—the only God who can never be dispossessed. This compassionate, merciful, long-suffering God is revealed to man from age to age by a Messenger, whose authentic sign and intangible credential is the boundless patience of His love for us.
There is no substitute for this figure in history, nor in the untainted elements of life itself. Until the soul find this figure of the Master it must remain in that state of anxiety or inanition that is its death.
Out in Arizona there is a stream called the Santa Cruz River. Although its banks form a diminutive canyon in places, not a trace of water can be found between them for months at a time; and then suddenly the torrential rains descend and the banks are all too narrow to contain the flood as it impetuously flings itself into the sea. Our arid natures parch in the desert of self-seeking and personal desire until, thirsting for relief and turning to the Master, our puny, little beings are utterly swept away in the floods and water-spouts of God’s love.
- Love is the only solvent
- For the nations, races, creeds;
- Love is the only remedy
- For the individual’s needs.
- Love, the LOVE OF GOD, unselfish
- Will be born from all the pain;
- To this world bereft of loving
- Healing evermore shall reign.
- Love, the one unchanging law
- On earth or in the Kingdom wide;
- Here we comprehend it dimly
- There a thousand times intensified.
- Love, wonderful as we know it here;
- Greater Love in that Endless Day,
- Shining brilliantly in the Home Light;
- All else but Love will fade away.
- Love alone, new song of Heaven
- Tuning harps of souls forlorn
- Into one great Anthem Holy,
- Into perfect soundless song.
THE WORLD is full of its own complainings. Men see apparent failures, real dangers, and an appalling, horrifying dread that the bases of civilization are crumbling. We who have glimpsed the new light realize that while all these things are dangerously true that they are also a logical outcome of conditions. A stream can rise no higher than its source, although a superior power may lift its waters to a higher level. Progress, civilization itself, can advance no farther and no higher than the character of man, for man has been permitted to be the maker of his own civilization. Consequently, the formation of character becomes the most urgent necessity of the day.
The vivifying impulse of a man’s character is his spirit. If his spirit be dead or unawakened, there is for him no reality of life. Mere mental processes and material successes are fallacious and often very temporary, crumbling with their own weight or from adverse pressure. Out of the spirit of man comes the guiding permanent influence that shapes not only his own life but also that of all humanity, of civilization. Now the human spirit is the receiver, as it were, of vibrations from the Divine spirit; and if the receiver, or human spirit, is a void, if it is imperfectly developed, if it is stunted, if it is permeated with evil, then there is no instrument or power in man to receive and be trained by messages from the Divine. That is, the superior power that can lift the character of man above the level of its own limitations finds no instrument in man himself through which to function.
Every man should give frequent and consistent help to shaping and developing this spirit in man so that it may receive more and more clearly the messages of God. He should strive to help not only himself, but also others. Especially should most careful attention be given young people. No part of life is more delicately adjusted, none is more easily bungled or stultified, than is man’s spirit, out of which, remember, grows his character and eventually all civilization. The greatest safeguard which the present generation can give the future for its safety and holiness is to train its youth. Train, not neglect or deride or punish or imprison, although unfortunately the two compulsory measures may become necessary, but train the children and young people into a truer comprehension of our relation to the Divine power and will, into a knowledge of our dependence upon that Will, and, especially, into a realization of the immense powers and possibilities opening to mankind if he accepts and cooperates with that boundless Power.
The first generation after our Civil War could not give the negro any reality of freedom; we are yet far from the ideal. Moses could not free the souls of the first generation of Hebrews from the real Egyptian blackness and bondage; he had to hold them in the desert forty years, until the second and even the third generation were enlightened and aroused to the reality of the Divine mission entrusted to them. The Bahá’ís must follow the example of Moses. Unfortunately, perhaps, we can not take our young people out into a desert, separating them from the contaminating influences of a corrupt and dying era. It seems that in this great day it is God’s pleasure that His message of life shall be accessible to all peoples and races. In the day of Moses and his chosen people the greater part of the world was still too undeveloped to look at so vivid a light, and so
had to wait for that light to be transmitted through slow, diluting centuries while the minds and spirits of these “outer” peoples grew.
Today, however, all the nations of the world have developed sufficiently to have leaders of thought and progress. All are today called by God. Consequently, the teachings of today must be given to all. That means to start the children on the road. Give the teachings first, to all; secondly, to those who are attracted out of this great mass; thirdly, to those who turn definitely towards the new Light and become in turn its joyous followers and expounders. To the first class the teachings must be of general morality, pure living, realization and recognition of a Supreme Power. This instruction should be given in every home; state education must be brought to the point of requiring it in every schoolroom; so that the universal character may be influenced even unconsciously towards right living. That is, the call is sounded to all.
To the second class there must be given clearer instruction of the power of God and of the remarkable progress the human spirit can attain to if it submits itself to this guidance. That is, the attracted will be pulled away from subordination to the mass consciousness and will be turned consciously into the paths of Divine guidance.
The third class must pass on through that gate where each must go alone. Each must, as he enters maturity, work out by himself and by God’s help his capacity for leadership. As a child he will receive the same instructions given all the others; but the mind, heart, and spirit of the teacher or leader within him will guide him farther on.
We must work with our children and young people. If there is a Bahá’í assembly in the land which is composed only of adults, especially elderly adults, it should bestir itself immediately to find children and young people who may be guided and trained. Every home with children in it must teach them spiritual righteousness and power. Every teacher in a schoolroom must guide instruction so as to bring in moral and spiritual truths. Every indivdiual Bahá’í must win, enlighten, and instruct spiritually some younger soul. God willing, we shall help usher the world into the Day of God.
- Gate of God, through whose bright portal, streaming,
- The Light of Truth went flooding o’er the world;
- In Thy Soul the Divine Truth was gleaming
- Whose rays proclaimed the New Day was unfurled!
- Gate of God, through Thine, our eyes are seeing
- The Beauty of God’s Glorious Promised One
- Who came; and lo! the grandeur of His Being
- Shone with the Splendor of a Mighty Sun!
- Gate of God, our hearts through Thine are knowing
- The Love which thrills creation into life,
- Yet vain is praise to Thee Whose Orb was glowing
- Serene amidst the chaos of man’s strife.
CONFERENCE
AGNES ALEXANDER"THE VARIETY of races and the differences existing between countries will become the cause of the embellishment, decoration and elegance of the world of humanity.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
In Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, from August 1 to 15, there was held the first Pan-Pacific Food Conservation Conference. From countries bordering on the Pacific ocean, whose populations number more than half the human race, distinguished delegates came to this Paradise of the Pacific to meet and confer together.
A beautiful flag pageant, staged in the grounds of the old royal palace, prefaced the opening of the conference. Through an avenue of palm trees, boys and girls in groups representing America’s states and the many lands which border on the Pacific ocean, marched up the stairs of the old palace, now the executive building, where the governor of Hawaii and delegates to the conference were assembled. First came a group of eight Hawaiian girls decked with flower wreaths, the emblems of the islands of the group. China, Japan and Korea were represented by Hawaiian born children of these countries dressed in their national costumes. Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific countries were also represented. It was a pageant of race friendliness.
This conference was the fifth of the Pan-Pacific conferences which have been held in Honolulu. The other conferences were Scientific, Educational, the Press, and Commercial. Because of Hawaii’s distance from the center of world politics it has been chosen as an ideal meeting place. “Aloha,” meaning love, the only word of greeting of the Hawaiian people, is symbolic of the islands, for the “new found brothers from all races gather here in unity.”
The spirit of the Food Conservation Conference was expressed in the opening speech of Governor Farrington, the president of the Pan-Pacific Union, who said in part:
"The widespread interest, the hearty response to the call for this conference and the splendid type of leadership represented from all parts of the Pacific bespeak in a striking manner the steadily growing neighborly sentiment prevailing among the races and the nations of what is now generally known as the Pacific area.
“It therefore occurs to me,” he said, “that ‘to live and help others to live’ expresses the dominant thought of this conference, and is indeed the guiding purpose of the institutions and the racial and national divisions, of which the delegates are representatives.
“It was appropriate that the first food conservation conference of modern times,” the governor continued, “should be held in the Pacific with the oldest civilizations and the greatest massing of population on the one side and the greatest undeveloped areas with resources of untold value and a development of science never equaled in history on the other.
“Hawaii,” the governor said, “is the natural meeting place, the crossroads of travel routes of the people of the Pacific. The native friendliness of the original inhabitants of these islands, since their earliest contacts with civilizations of the
Occident and the Orient, has been a distinguishing characteristic that has exercised an abiding influence on every phase of human activity in this area. Travelers coming from the East and from the West have found here sincere friendship. These visitors and residents, in the main, have responded in kind. Contention and duplicity have been displaced by cooperation, intelligent study, frank exchange of opinion and thus a basis of mutual understanding has usually been found, new friendships established and real progress recorded.
“Here each race and nationality finds friends and sympathetic recognition,” the governor said, “Racial equality is traditional. Here science finds an open door, not of tolerance but of appreciation. Here industry, education and commerce are on friendly terms.”
The chairman of the Conference, Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, of Washington, D. C., in his opening remarks stressed the international aspects of the study of the food problem. “The evolution of internationalism is an interesting and very important study which will engage the attention of some of the best minds in the world more and more as time goes on,” he said. “The interdependence of people and races of people is showing itself in new ways every year. The world is not yet over-populated. In a strictly biological sense it will never be over-populated by the human species or any other species. The old principle of ‘the balance of nature’ is sure to prevail.”
Dr. M. S. Barnett of Sydney, New South Wales, chairman of the Sugar Industry section, advocated the use of Esperanto as the official tongue and language among sugar cane workers. “Esperanto is not a fad,” he said. “It was adopted and used by delegates speaking 45 different languages at the recent International Commercial Congress at Geneva, Switzerland. It is easy to learn and is readily understood by anyone who has had a foundation of Latin.
The conference adopted a resolution that it is the opinion of the sugar men that Esperanto might well be the language to be used by international conferences of scientific men.
The chairman of the International Law section, Dr. R. Masujima of Tokyo, the first president of the International Bar Association, concluded his paper on the association in these words: “May the International Bar Association gather into itself the energies of all the lawyers of the world, just as the mighty Pacific ocean receives all tidal currents into itself to ebb and flow along all its shores, there to cleanse the mind and heart of all to whom they come and then to rush on to other oceans of the globe, thus to illustrate that mankind is all one and that its interests never differ but harmonize, when the calm tides of uniform justice run along right courses toward their own appointed havens.”
Sir Joseph Carruthers, representing the government of New South Wales, said he was appreciating during his stay in Hawaii that the world is a university and that its greatest lesson is to learn to be kind to another nation and to make the world better for all peoples to live in.
In a spirit of friendly cooperation and good will the conference closed with a banquet attended by more than 150 delegates and friends representing 16 lands. Governor Farrington, who presided, set the keynote of the evening saying that all the countries of the Pacific are one big family and that it was just a family gathering. The big family was the ideal of the Pan-Pacific Union and was one of the secrets of its success.
Dr. David Starr Jordon, president emeritus of Stanford University, made a plea for international peace and for widespread higher education as a means for obtaining international peace.
Dr. Kokiang Yih, the Chinese Consul at San Francisco, said he hoped that peace, plenty and progress might not be
limited to the Territory but spread to all the nations of the Pacific.
Dr. David G. Stead, of New South Wales, vice-president of the Australian League of Nations Union, compared Mr. Alexander Hume Ford, the Director of the Pan-Pacific Union, to a gardener who sent to all parts of the Pacific for the seeds of human thought. The seeds have been planted, Dr. Stead said, have been fertilized by human understanding, fellowship and love, and now the plants have grown and the persons who brought the seeds are returning to their countries with fruits and cuttings in order to grow new plants of international love.
The last speaker, Alexander Hume Ford, through whose energies the Pan-Pacific Union was born, said in part: “No conference ever called by the Pan-Pacific Union has been so successful and so representative as this one. Every section—I may say every country of the Pacific—has sent its delegates. The 150 men of many races, who have conducted the first Pan-Pacific Food Conservation Conference, have become warm, personal friends; they have worked as a unit, as, I am told, no men of any such conference have ever worked before. You have demonstrated that a Pan-Pacific League of Nations is not only possible—it is inevitable. You have been in at the birth of the Pan-Pacific Research Institute. You have accepted responsibility as members of a great Pan-Pacific Scientific Council to guide us aright. And for the Pan-Pacific Union I assure you we will try to follow your advice.”
That the coming era is bound to be a period of wiser understanding and greater felicity between all the resourceful peoples, whose shores reach the Pacific, is the opinion of Prof. Adams of the University of Hawaii. The best citizens, he feels, are those whose minds have been broadened by distinctive cultures of different races.
"IF YOU TAKE bars of iron and tie them together, no matter how closely, they will not become one. But when a metallurgist comes on the scene, he takes the ten bars, melts them in the furnace and casts them in one mould; only through this fiery furnace will their atoms commingle with each other, become united and inseparable.
“This is the work that Bahá’u’lláh has done and is doing. He has not tied together the iron bars—the religions of the world—with the rope of indulgent tolerance or ordinary amenities of human necessities, which are liable to break at any time, but with the fire of the Love of God. He has melted them first and then casting them in one mould of spiritual brotherhood He has rendered the most marvelous service to the world of humanity. Bahá’u’lláh is the Divine Metallurgist, and those who have deep insight and look around the world witness daily the workings of the principle of fusion.”
IF, AFTER ALL the appalling evidence in history that military force cannot give security we, today, repeat the folly of our ancestors, then the security we give of the day is only a betrayal of the nation that we lull to sleep under it . . . If the future is to justify our confidence and happiness, it will be owing solely to the deliberations, the negotiations, the work and the agreement of the League of Nations . . . Now what contribution can we make? Where does the League stand in its pursuit of peace and of the essential conditions under which arms can be reduced? I think the first problem is the League itself, and its composition. This League, if it has authority to give security, must be a comprehensive League. This League will remain inefficient unless it has not only got the threatened nations in, but the threatening, or so-called threatening, nations in. Both sides must be there. One of the essentials is that all nations must be in it; . . I am in favor of arbitration—I see nothing else for the world . . . We are evolutionists. (Prime Minister MacDonald of Great Britain.)
ONE THING sure is that all men are drawn together in these days by rapid transportation and communication, by the steamship, railroad trunk line, the telegraph and the radio, and those who are at all aware of the fact must see that national political barriers, some time or other, must break down . . .
Such institutions as the Olympic games are looked at with favor by the lover of his kind. They have their part to play as well as international chambers of commerce, and international competitions in the arts. The new internationalism which cannot be accomplished at once politically by direct attack may be accomplished by a flank movement. (Dr. Frank Crane, Current Opinion.)
CONDITIONS as they are do not preclude war, but it is inconceivable that civilized peoples will deliberately take the downward path. There is such a thing as the fundamental instinct of society for self-preservation.—(G. Ellis Porter in Philadelphia Public Ledger.)
IN THE RECENT death of John J. Eagan of Atlanta, America has lost a citizen who incarnated that spirit of service which can break down both race and class misunderstandings. A generous profit-sharing plan was inaugurated by Mr. Eagan in the American Cast Iron Pipe Company, of which he was President. This provided that after a fair living wage had been paid to workers and a six per cent dividend to stockholders, the remaining profits should be divided between management and employees. Mr. Eagan believed that the workers should have a real share in the direction of policies at every point. “Not servants, but friends” became his ideal. Two representatives of labor, chosen by the workers themselves, served as directors of the corporation with every power that was vested in the representatives of capital. . . . But not only to his employees was Mr. Eagan a friend. His colored neighbors found in him a sympathizer and ally. In Atlanta he took the lead in developing a plan of co-operation between the white and negro churches that furnished the foundation of the inter-racial movement to give the negroes better educational facilities and opportunities for self-development. Over against the current cynicism as to the possibility of bridging the gulf between races, as between classes, stands the work of John J. Egan, testifying that the problem can be solved by the use of the principle contained in the old command: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” —(Collier’s.)
ALASKA IS A VAST country, as the teachers and speakers have in truth discovered as they travel in the usual and “unusual ways” of that land, viewing majestic scenes almost unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur, and meeting conditions interesting, unlooked for and thrilling.
As far as Bahá’í activities are concerned in that corner of the world, we find that a city, or perhaps two or three, were visited by individuals mostly bent on commercial pursuits, but who in a quiet way proclaimed the doctrine of world unity and spiritual brotherhood to those who crossed their path and who seemed interested to learn of those truths which have come to the world to create an enlightened humanity.
Then in 1916, we hear of Mrs. Susan Rice who spent an entire summer vacation in Alaska. The account of her trip all alone up the Yukon to Dawson was filled with deeply spiritual hours, especially at one little town on the way, where she gave the Bahá’í Message to every one in the town. The fruit of her seed-sowing foreshadowed what might be expected in the future in the way of a vital interest from the people in that land, for she left real friends and many attracted to the Cause at Fairbanks, White Horse and Dawson, and indirectly through her the Message was carried to Wiseman, the most northerly point, inhabited at that time.
Later Miss Margaret Green received an appointment in an important library in Alaska, and as much as possible she shared with others her knowledge of the Message which is joy-bringing, and which includes that marvelous program for PEACE which shall be enduring through the application and living of the Bahá’í Principles.
Still later we find the history of the Cause in Alaska records the work of Mrs. Emogene Hoagg and Miss Marion Jack, who together spent over a year traveling from city to city, presenting the Bahá’í Message publicly in many large and important gatherings as Mrs. Hoagg is a most impressive speaker before the public, and both teach with clarity and conviction. They served with distinction and great success, for the element of sacrifice entered largely into their work. Through the confirming power of the Holy Spirit illumined groups were left in several Centers.
Now at this time we hear of the onward march of events, the advancement of the Cause and a service of wider scope, for hundreds are now being taught through the public lectures of Mrs. O. R. Gregory, a University of California graduate, a dynamic speaker, and an enthusiastic Bahá’í. She is a whirlwind of both physical and mental energy, and spiritually confirmed, she has become a power for good. Her own lamp being lighted, she can become the torch-bearer to others.
One of the most unusual experiences of any Bahá’í teacher, perhaps, was her trip with her husband by dog team into McKinley National Park, the farthest north of all the National parks, where they camped in midwinter, the first time in the history of the park that this has been done. Returning to the entrance, they found the superintendent of the park had cleared out a log cabin for a gathering. Here Mrs. Gregory gave a lecture on the Bahá’í Cause to a rather large and interesting group who seemed overjoyed with the story of the possibilities of a united human family. All welcomed most heartily the teacher and Message and eagerly sought literature.
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The accompanying picture gives an idea of the unusual setting for this program staged in a log cabin.
Lecturing before the public is not Mrs. Gregory’s only activity, for she has likewise been exceedingly busy with her pen. She has had printed in the “Anchorage Daily Alaskan” a series of articles which continued for sometime and which were most attractively presented under the title “The Solution of the World’s Problems from a Universal Standpoint.” Each day she added to her story some phase of the Teachings which would carry her readers further on the journey toward the desired goal. For instance she started the series with “The Cycles of Time”; then followed in succession “The Need of an Educator,” “The Elements of Universal Religion,” “The Messenger,” “The Promised One,” and so on—an intelligent and brilliant course of reading in the important history and facts relative to the Cause and its application to present day problems. These articles attracted wide attention, and brought the Cause of God into many corners where a teacher could not travel in person.
One feels assured, as they hear of Mrs. Gregory’s spiritual successes in Alaska, that when she was married to an Alaskan dentist not long ago, perhaps the guilding hand of the Master led her thither to particularly become a herald of His Cause where she could best serve and where the field was so ready for the Bahá’í teacher. Dr. Gregory was first attracted to her as she publicly proclaimed the Bahá’í Message with its dynamic doctrine of spiritual brotherhood and world unity to an audience of over five hundred. He accepted the Bahá’í Message, and likewise “accepted” Mrs. Gregory, and now these two have become one in establishing the Cause on the most firm foundation which is the eternal Word of God.
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صفحه 1 - 4
چهارمین کنونشن نژادی در فیلادلفیا
اوّلین کنونشن نژادی در سنه 1921در واشنگتون منعقد گردید و بموجب همّت یکی از محترمات که حضرت عبدالبها مخصوا وی را در ایّام توقفش برای زیارت در حیفا بدین خدمت گماشتند درین پایتخت شهیر که تعصّب نژادی مابین نژاد سیاه و سفید در شدّت است این تأسیس اتحّاد برقرار شد پس از مدّتی مذاکرات و معاونت معنویّه جمعی دیگر و تهیّه شعبات اعلان و پروگرام خود را نشر دادند که حاوی نخبه هائی از کلمات انبیاء و مؤسّسین و مروّجین عظام روحانیّات و کلمات عالیات این امر در خصوص وحدت عالم انسانی و تساوی نوع بشر بود و در ایّام آن جلسات بزرگ اجتماع سیاه و سفید در معبد عظیم و نغمات موسیقی و خطابه های خطبا از سیاه و سفید و بعضی مشاهیر امریکا و اعضای پارلمنت نمونۀ از عصر وحدت بشر و مقاصد این امر را بدست میداد در آن سه شبانه روز که آن جلسات دوام داشت آوازه در بلاد پیچیده و خطابه ها در بسیاری از جرائد منعکس و منتشر گشت و در حقیقت چون این اقدام بموجب اشاره مبارکه و بعنوان مجلس اتحّاد نژاد در ظلّ تعالیم آسمانی تأسیس شد و چندی بعد از آن تلگرافی مشعر بر آرزوی نشر آن در همه بلاد امریکا نمودند و مکرّر در ایقاظ و ترغیب این خدمت بیان نمودند که اگر الفت و التیام تامّ بین این دو جنس حاصل نشود این امر برای آتیه امریکا خطری عظیم خواهد بود اذا اساس این خدمت را در امریکا چنان استوار داشت که اکنون آن آمال در قلوب مقرّ گزیده است و آثار این عمل که ابتدا در قلب مملکت تأسیس شد اینک در سائر اعضا تأثیر و نفوذ تامّ نموده است و نوبت دویّم در شهر اسپرینگ فیلد دو شبانه روز در تالار یک مدرسه این مجلس عامّ نژادی در نهایت متانت و روحانیّت منعقد گشت سال گذشته در نیویورک این مجلس عظیم الفت نژاد های مختلفه از سیاه و سفید و شرقی و غربیبحال عمومیّت و مشارکت با جمعی از خیراندیشان نوع انسانی تأسیس گردید اینک در 22 ماه گذشته در فیلادلفیا سیّمین شهر عظیم امریکا که این جمعیّت و تنافر مابین دو جنس در کمال شدّت است بهمّت بهائیان مقیم آنجا تأسیس گردید در محلی عظیم با پروگرام بسیار عالی و نشریّات مفصّله و خطبا و ناطقین از نژاد های متنوّعه در نهایت خلوص و صفائیّت منعقد شد مصاریف آنرا قریب به هزار دلار در نظر گرفته اند چه سعادت بزرگی است موفقیّت بر امثال این خدمات عظیمۀ عالم انسانی و چه مسرّت است که در این عصر چنین نفوسی از اثر تعالیم الهیّه مسرّت شده اند که در خدمات بوحدت بشر سرافشانی مینمایند .
مشاهیر بهائیان غرب
مستر جوزف هنن در سال 1822 تولدّ یافت چندین سال تا قبل از وفاتش در یک کمپانی دواجات در واشنگتن سمت و مقامی داشت یک شخص متفکرّ روشن ضمیر و یک ناطق مهیّا و یک نویسنده مجرّب بود در اوقات توقفّ مرحوم آقا میرزا ابوالفضل در امریکا مشار الیه و زنش و فامیل منتسبشان منجذب باین امر شدند و از آنوقت تا حین وفاتش همیشه با کمال ایمان بخدمات مهمّه امر مشغول بود و فعالانه در مدّت سالیان دراز خدمات معظمی را متحملّ شد در تنظیم و اداره انجمن تربیتی ایرانی و امریکائی معاضدت بزرگی کرد و سالها بامید شرکت تجارتی شرق و غرب بواسطۀ مراسلات ممتدۀ آنرا اداره مینمود و بعنوان منشی این انجمن حساب مالی متعلق بشاگردان مدرسۀ تربیت بنام بهائیان
صفحه 2 - 4
امریکا را در دست داشت و بواسطۀ فعالیّت او و استمرار در خدمتش بهائیان در همه غرب شائق و مشتعل در معاضدت باین مقصد بودند روز وشب در امور محافل واشنگتون فعالیّت میکرد در مجالس نطق میداد و معاضدت میکرد و بهائیان را تشویق و ترغیب مینمود گوئی اساس محکم خدمات امریّه در واشنگتون بود خانه اش برای این امر باز و خود مسرور و بشّاش بود و در راه حضرت عبدالبهاء فداکاریهای بزرگ نمود و در مابین بهائیان در واشنگتون بعنوان برادر جوزف معروف و مشهور بود و او مخضوصا شیفته اصل اتحّاد نژاد بود چندانکه مابین سیاهان امریکا با قوّه کلال ناپذیری خدمت بامر میکرد و بواسطه سعی او و خانمش بود که مستر گریگوری در امر دارد و آستین در خدمات امر بالا زد وفاتش در سنه 1920 در واشنگتن در حینی که عبور از خیابان میخواست تصادم با اتوموبیل شده و از این جهان درگذشت مستر هنن به پستخانه شهر میرفت که مکاتیب به مبّلغین مسافر بهائی ارسال دارد که این فاجعه رخ داد و آن مکاتیب را آلوده بخونش یافتند که در حقیقت یک شهادت رمزی بر طبیعت خدمتش بود .
صلح و فلاح از چه راهی در اروپا بمعاونت بین المللی بر قرار میشود
مستر ادوارد فلین امریکائی مشهور در ماه گذشته سئوالی حیاتی بتمامت سکنه ممالک امپراطوری بریطانی اظهار کرد که از چه طریقی صلح و نجاح را در بریطانی واروپا و بمعاونت بین المللی توان اعاده نمود و شبیه همین سئوال را از ممالک فرانسه و آلمان و ایطالی کرد که از نقطه نظر هر یک از این ممالک چگونه آشتی و کامکاری در آن سرزمین در اروپا بمعاضدت بین المللی تجدید توان داشت و برای اجوبۀ واصلۀ از هر یک از این ممالک مذکوره جائزه ده هزار دلار در درجات متفامته اجوبه بطور مسابقه تهیّه شد و مقصد از این سئوالات آن بود که تا حدّی که ممکن است تهیّجی در افکار عمومی اروپا و مباحثۀ واسعی راجع بمقاصد بین المللی شود و در هریک از این ممالک وکالت این اجازه در دست جمعی از اعاظم بود تقریبا 5300 در سابقه فرانسه و 4700 در سابقه بریطانی 4400 در آلمان و یک هزار در ایطالی نقشه های متفاوته در جواب رسید و این اجوبه از اغلب طبقات مردم از قبیل مسلمین دارالفنون ها ، وکلا ، جریده نگاران ، موظفین در مشاغل عمده و بیکارها حتیّ از کانادا و استرالیا و هند نیز قریب به هزار جواب رسید و قضاوت و تمییز آن اجوبه محوّل و موکول بجمعی از دانشمندان و مشاهیر گردید و اوّلین نقشۀ صلح جائزه پنج هزار دلار را برد و نقشه دوم جائزه 1250 دلار در این نقشه نواقص مجلس بین المللی حاضر در تحت نظر گرفته شد مانند آنکه دخول دولت امریکا و آلمان و روسیه و ترک در مشورت و محکمه بین المللی از شرائط استحکام آن و عضویّت دول کوچک برای مداخله در امور راجعه بمحوّطۀ خودشان و حضور رئیس الوزراء های دول متعاهد در جلسه آتیه مجلس بین المللی و آنکه رئیس الوزرائی کنفرانسی خبیر السلام در جلسه آتیه تأسیس کرده و اعلان عظیم صلح عمومی
صفحه 1 - 3
حواری واضح است آئین مسیائی یک دیانت روحانی عمومی اثبات شد که در تعالیم آن عصبیّت قومیّه و وطنیّه منظور نه و سبب ارتباط و اتحّاد اقوام و ممالک متعدّده برابطۀ تعالیم مسیحیّه گردید ولی پس از چندی در عالم مسیحیّت خود مذاهب وسیعی پیدا شده که هر یک از آن اختصاص بقومی از اقوام مسیحیّه یافته و تأسیس کمالات قومیّه وطنیّه نموده که در یهود بود مانند کاتولیک در ایطالی و فرانسه و ارتودوکس در روسیّه و یونان و اپیکبیل در انگلستان و سائر طوائف پروتستانت در آلمان و ایالات متحده امریکا بعلاوه آنکه چون این عصبیّات در اقوام مسیحیّه موجود چه تفاوت است که در عقاید دیانتی ایشان داخل باشد یا نه و در مابین مسلمین نیز چنین شد زیرا که در صدر اسلام از آنرو که بعلاوۀ جنس اعراب یهود و ایرانی و سریانی و مصری و غیره در ظلّ آئین مقدّس اسلام درآمدند لذا دینی عمومی مابین اجناس و ممالک متساوی و موجب الفت و اتحّاد بین امم و اوطان بود و مصداق « انّا ارسلناک رحمة العالمین و انّ اقربکم عندالله اتقیکم » ولی پس از مدّتی که آن آئین مقدّس انشعاب بمذاهب و شعب متی الله و عسببت با یک لباس تازه و رنگ دیگر جلوه نمود هر قسمتی از ممالک داخله در تحت اسلام بنام رضوانی خود را حسبت محفوظ داشته اند چنانچه بعضی ممالک در تحت تسنّن حنفی و بعضی دیگر در تحت تشیّع فاطمی و بعضی در ظلّ تشیّع اثناعشری و غیره قرار گرفته و آن شعب را حسبیّت مذهبیّه و قومیّه و وطنیّه شعار مخصوص خود اتخاذ نمودند .
مسیحی
این بیان در کمال صحّت و صداقت است ولی باید عالم اسلامی در این نکته ذیل دقتّ نمایند که چرا عالم مسیحی روزبروز در تمدّن و ترقیّات علوم و فنون و انکشافات و اختراعات مفیده پیش میرود و گوئی یک دنیای تازه در روی زمین تشکیل داده و در عین حال عالم اسلامی بهمان زندگانی قدیم اکتفا کرده و دست احتیاج به مغرب داز کرده و چنان بنظر میآید که در یک خواب غفلت عمیقی آرمیده است آیا جز این است که آئین مسیحی بر حسب توضیحات حواری مشتمل بر قوانین مدنیّه و فروع احکام نبوده بلکه صرف مسائل روحانیّه و تعالیم اخلاقی است لذا با تجدّد قوانین و تعدیل و تغییرات تمدّن معارضه ندارد و اگر هم احیانا در بعضی تقالید و منقولات آن بظاهر معارضۀ دیده شد عالم مسیحی آنرا تأویل نمود تا موافقت حالات عصر گردد و یا به کلیّ از آن روایت صرف نظر کرد ولی عالم اسلام مملو از قوانین و حدود جزئیّه است که بطبق اوضاع صد ها سال قبل در آن آئین مقدّس تقرّر یافت و مسلمین متحّد گردند و تأویل و اصلاح آن روایات و فتاوی را که موافق اوضاع این عصر گردد کفر و زندقه و موجب دخول در نار میشمارند مانند تعدّد و تکثرّ زوجات و فعّالیّت مایشاء رجال در امر طلاق و حجّ اجتماعی بهیئت نمودن که یگانه عقیدۀ عالم متمدّن غرب اینها تنها وسائل عقب افتادن ممالک شرق از خط ترقیّات این دوره است شاید آنانکه باوضاع زندگانی چند صد ها سال قبل اسلاف هنوز باقی و از هوای درخشان این عصر الکتریک و رادیو بیخبر و از طیران یکشبۀ در منطقه زمین عبرت نمیگیرند تصوّر کنند که این مسائل چه دخلی در عالم ترقیّات مدنی و علمی دارد ولی این اغراق نیست که یک سبب بزرگ ترقیّات ممالک مسیحیّه ترقیّات عالم نسوانشان است چه که نه تنها بواسطۀ پستی نسوان در ممالک اسلامی و نسبت جمعیّتشان عضو ملیّ محافل شمرده نمیشود بلکه چون تربیت اطفال در آغاز طفولیّت در دامن مادره است و افکار و اخلاق مادر و خواهر و زن در افکار و عواطف رجال تأثیر ثابت بیمانندی دارد لذا پستی آنان همان پستی تمام آحاد مملکت میباشد و علاج این مرض مهلک مشرق جز بداروی تربیت نخواهد شد چه که چون نسوان را فکر و مغز انوار علوم و معارف منوّر از جنّ و دیو خوف و اوهام نجات یافته و شجاعت قلبیّه حاصل کنند و وظائف و تکالیف خود را در هیئت اجتماعیّه بشناسند و لایق تساوی در حقوق با رجال گردند تمامت بی اعتدالیهای از قبیل تکثرّ زوجات و مخاریت مایشاء مردان در طلاق و عدم تساوی حقوق در میراث و غیره بخودی خود از میان رفته و رجال و نساء به تساوی و تعادل به نیروی عمل هیئت جامعه انسانی شکل و ترتیب خواهند داد مسلمّ این صحیح است که
صفحه 2 - 3
مسئله عدم تربیت نسوان یک مصیبت عظیمی در اکثر ممالک اسلامی دارد و ممالک متمدّن غرب بدان بمنظر بابهاریت و مهباز تربیت و مدنیّت نگاه میکنند ولی از این نکته نباید غافل شد و مسئله منع از تکثرّ زوجات که قانون لن یتحلث کنیسه مسیحیّه و حکومت ممالک مسیحیّه است بدین صراحت در نفس کلمات حضرت مسیح نیست و اگر مسیحیان روز های اوّل میخواستند میتوانستند به توضیحات انجیل چنین منع قطعی تأسیس نمایند ولی چون موافق با تمدّن قدیم رومان بود با همان مختصر بیان انجیل را اساس کرده و در عالم مسیحیّت آنرا قانون قرار دارند بدرجه ئیکه حتیّ مومونت ها که که خود یک شعبه از مسیحیت هستند ولی معتقد به تعدّد زوجات در ممالک مسیحیّه مقتدر بر عمل مطابق این عقیده خود نیستند و کثیری از سائر نفوس مسیحین که بی مجوّز کنیسه و حکومت در خفا زوجات متعدّده دارند چون حکومت از آن مطلعّ شود مجازات مینماید ولی در قرآن شریف که تعدّد زوجات را اجازه داده مشروط بشرطی ساخته که وجود آن با تعدّد زوجات بغایت مشکل و صعب میباشد چه میفرماید فانکهواما طاب فکم من النساء مثنی و ثلاث در باغ لا نخفتیم الا تعدلوء فواحدة و این خود معلوم است که اجراء محرمات در مابین زوجات متعدّده قریب بمحال میباشد و خود در محلّ دیگر از قرآن شریف میفرماید « ولن تستطیعوا ان تعدلوا بین النباء ولووصنتم فلا تمبلوا کلّ الیل فتذوها کالمقلقد و حقیقة اگرعلماء اسلام میخواستند ممکن بود از جمیع این دو آیة قرآن نتیجه منع از تعدّد زوجات میگرفتند و شاید این در منع از تعدّد زوجات ناقل و ضوعا از کلام مسیح منقول در انجیل نیست و همچنین مسئله طلاق در حدیث مأثور است « ابغض الاشیاء عندی الطلاق» و در قرآن شریف اساست « و ان خفتم شقاق بینهما فالبعثوا حکما من اهله و حکما من اهلها ان یریداصلاحا یوفق الله عینها و نیز مذکور است و آنکه مهمترین نفس ان تحرهوا اشیاء و یحبل الله فیه خیرا کثیر و چنانچه هرگاه علما میخواستند ممکن بود که از این آیات و روایات منع و تضییق در طلاق را استنباط مینمودند و مسئله تعدّد زوجات یا طلاق های واقعه در صدر اسلام را که محمول بر حکم و مصالح متکثره ایست که ضیق مقام اجازه بسطو تفعیل آنرا نمیدهد نمیتوان سند قرار داد و امید آن داشت که حتیّ در این عصر که ستاره تربیت و عدالت طالع شده و مقام نسوان بدرجۀ رسیده که در مصالح بین المللی وسائل سیاسیّه هدوش با رجال نشسته اند آنان از تربیت و تعادل محروم مانند و امّا آنچه در آثار اسلامیّه راجع به تقدّم رجال بر نساء و قرابتشان بر آنان است اگرنه اشدّ از آن اقلا مانند آن در آثارمسیحیّه نیز هست خوبست تدقیق نظر در کلمات پولس شود تقریبا چنین میگوید زن حقّ در کنیسه صدا بلند نماید و باید آنطور از مرد اطاعت کند که از خدا اطاعت میکند چه که مرد مانند سر و مغز است برای زن ولی حال در تمدّن این عصر اغلب از کارکنان و اجزاء و کنائس حتیّ خطبا از نسوانند و نیز بسا از تأسیسات بزرگ تربیتی اجتماعی یا سیاسی یا اقتصادی که ریاست آن در عهده زنان حتیّ شعب بسیار بزرگ دینی که مؤسّس آن از نسوان است و مردم در ظلّ ریاست آنان واقع نباء علیه تفاوتی از اینجهت در آثار مسیحیّه با اسلامیّه نیست و حدود و قوانین فرعیّه هر دو موافق احتیاجات چندین صد سال قبل تأسیس شده و معذلک تعدیا و تأویل هر دو مطابق عصر حاضر تمدّن ولی در این است که مسیحیّان بواسطه تنورّات علمیّه و تجربیّات در خط تعدیل و تأویل قدم گذاشتند امّا اغلب مسلمانان بصرف تجرّد تحت اللفظی در غفلت از این ماندند که باید حدود و فروع دینی موافق موافق با روح تمدّن عصر گردد و الا جاری نخواهد شد . بهائی . تمامت این مسائل مذکوره در طیّ یک مادّه از تعالیم امر بهائی جمع سده که فرموده اند دین و عقل و علم باید مطابق باشند و اگر چنین نباشد آن دین حقیقی نیست و این حدود و فروع ادیان ماضیه اگر با با علم و عقل امروزه موافق نیست باید دانست که با عقل و علم آن روزیکه طلوع کردند موافق بودند ولی این امر عظیم چون در چنین عهد عظیمی طلوع کرده لهذا جمیع تعالیمش موافق با علم و عقل این عصر عظیم میباشد .
صفحه 1 - 2
چشمی کور گردد و دندانی را بعوض دندانی شکست و یا آنکه دست انسانی را برای سرقت چند پشیزی برید ولی تمدّن قرون حاضره این مسائل را نپذیرفت چنانکه در هیچ کشوری مجری نیست و برین دلیلی واضحتر از این نتوان یافت که با وجود طرفداری جمع کثیری از اینگونه مسائل و با عدم وجود قوّۀ فائقه از جریان آن بلکه بخودی خود چنین مهجور و متروک مانده که فقط در خلال کتب مقدّسه سالفه قرائت میشود و نیز مسئله غلامی و کنیزی و آن همه احکام و قوانین متعلقه بآن که بعضی از آن در این عصر از میان رفت و جز در کتب مشاهده نمیشود و از این قبیل است تفاوت مابین اهل ادیان و اجناس درمحاکم و جنایات و حقوق و عدم مرآت تعادل و تساوی در مابین طبقات بشری و یا احتراز و تنفرّ اهل ادیان از یکدیگر بعنوان تکفیر و تنجیس و یا مسئله عدم تربیت نسوان و تقهترشان از صف ترقیّ رجال و تسلط مردان بر حسب توسشان در ازدواج و مختاریّت نامسئولشان در امر طلاق کلّ این امور از مسائلی است که با تمدّن بعضی اقوام در هزار و صد ها سال قبل موافق بوده ولی تمدّن این عصر که بر مبنای تربیت بر حریّت و حقوق متساویّه عمومی قرار گرفته از آنه ابا دارد پس پارۀ از قوانین ادیان که موافق تمدّن ملل چند صد سال تأسیس شده و از تمدّن کنونی دنیا بچندین قرن عقب افتاده است ناچار از تعدیل است و اگر در آن تعدیلی نشود بخودی خود از میان رفته و مهجور و متروک میماند و در مقابل اگر بعضی از تظاهرات تمدّن عصر موافق با روح دیانت نه ناچار از آن است که در مقابل آن قوّه عظیمه معنویّه پشت خضوع و تسلیم و انقیاد خم نماید و الا آنچه منجربسوء انتظام در حیات اجتماعی انسانی شده و از اعتدال و حسن خصال و منهج قویم و صراط مستقیم دور و مهجور میمانند چنانچه تمدّن حاضره که بصورت حریّت مطلقه شخصیّه نمایش یافته هرگاه زمام سرکش آن در قبضه آهنین دیانت نباشد منجر به هرج و مرج و مفاسد و رزائل میگردد لذا پیوسته چنین بود و خواهد بود که تدیّن موافق تمدّن عصر و تمدّن در ظلّ قوّه معنویّه دیانت و این هر دو بمنزلۀ دو نردبان صعود و ترقیّ مادیّه و معنویّه و تکامل عالم انسانیّه که جامعه انسانی مادیّا و معنویّا بوسیله مؤالفت و انطباق آندو با یکدیگر بسوی نقطۀ مجهول الانتهای ترقیّ و تکامل صعود مینماید .
گفتار و کردار
یکی از سجایای سرشت انسانی حبّ شهرت است و این شاخه نیز مانند سائر خصال انسان از ریشۀ حبّ ذات روئیده است چناچه هرکسی میخواهد خویش را مشتهر و عمل نیک خود را فاش و مثمر سازد تا مردم از او نیک گویند و اعمالش رابستایند و از اقتدارش اظهار تعجبّ و شگفت نمایند و او مابین همگنان سرافراز گردد و از آن چنان لذتّ واهمیّه میبرد که به مراتب اقوی از لذائذ مادیّه است و گاه میشود که چون بآن نائل گردد و خود خویشتن را ستایش نماید و اعمال خود را ذکر نماید تا خوب دهن سامعین را بمدح و ثنا بگشاید و چون بآن فائز نگردد و نفوس آنرا اصغاء ننموده و مهمّ نشمارند آنان را جاهل خوانده و نسبت به کفران نعمت دهد و چون ملاحظه نماید که مردم یکی از اهل عمل را ثنا میگویند و گواهی بر عملش میدهند مشغول بطعن او گشته و همّت بر تنقیص او گمارد و هرگاه در اوضاع و اخلاق و احوال مردم تعمقّ شود دیده میشود که آنکه بیشتر بر اعمال دیگران انتقاد مینماید همان کسی است عاجز تر از اینان بمثل آن است و مردم بالطبع فضائل اهل عمل را انتشار میدهند و چون آنان در ذکر اعمال حقّ ساکت بینند بیشتر بذکر و نشر آن گرایند و بالعکس اگر آنان را مشاهده نمایند که همی از خود گویند به تفتیش آن کوشند هر چند از اعمال عظیمه باشد و گاهی چون برای خود نمی یابد که جالب انظار عامّه و موجب مدح و ثنا گردد به لاف و گزاف عملی را بخود نبندد و یا بافتخار به آباء و اعمالشان ممتاز شود و هیچ شخصی خالی از این نیست که پدر و یا یکی از اسلاف و خویشاوندانش عملی مستحقّ الذکر
صفحه 2 - 2
و الشهره داشته اند آنرا متمسّک شده و بآن فخر مینماید و چنین شخص اگر دیدۀ سعادت بین میداشت اقتداء بآنان و مانند ایشان دارای عملی میشد و در دون آن مقام گاهی نیز ببعضی تصوّر عرضضۀ زائله فخر و مباهات مینماید ولی اشخاص اعمال حقیقی و نفوس ذوی العم العالیّه نظر بر عمل دوخته اند و فقط سعی و کوشش در آن مینمایند و چون مدح و ثنا از مردم شنودند شرم آورده و تواضعشان زیاده میشود و در هر رتبۀ چندان جدّ و کوشش مینمایند تا بعمل عظیمتری موفقّ گردند و در هر حال بجای آنکه وقت را بقول تضییع کنند آستین بالا کرده و فکر را بکار انداخته و همتّ را صرف در عمل مینماید گوئی نوع انسان منقسم باین دو قسم است که اهل عمل در آن بسیارو اهل قول در آن کم باشد نفوسی در آن دور جامعۀ انسانی را تشکیل دهند که از اقوال چیزی را مهم نشمارند مگر آنچه بر آن عملی مرتبّ گردد و از اقسیه افکار انسانی فقط آنرا محلّ اعتماد شناسند که بر آن نتیجه عملی مرتبّ گردد و از اشخاص فقط آنرا عضو حیّ مفید عائله انسانی دانند که بوظیفه عملی عامل باشد
مناظره دینیّه بقیّه از شماره های قبل
یهود . این مسئله صحیح است و بر متنورّین قوم ما روشن که علتّ منتجّه دینی ما این بود که میخواستند قوانین معامله و حقوق متبادله زندگانی و فروعی که در سه هزار و چند صد سال قبل موافق وضییّت زندگانی و احتیاجات اجتماعی اسلاف طور بر فلسطین در کتاب شریعت الهی وضع شده بود در قرون اعصار و تتجدّدات و و تقلبات و ترقیّات مدنیّت بهمان حال و منوال محافظه نمایند و نیز فلسفه خلقت و حکایات قدیمه و روایات منقوله که با معلومات آن اعصار موافق بوده در اعصار معلومات بدیعه و اکتشافات معجزات سمات روزافزون بهمان معانی و مفاهیم تحت اللفظ بر اخلاف و دودمان خود الی الابد بقبولانند ولی در این عصر نهضتی از متنفذین قوم ما بنام مصلحین یهود قیام کردند که اصوا عقائد و آداب کنیسه ئی و احکام را در تحت نظر اصلاح گرفته و شاخه های خشگیده این درخت تنومند کهن را زدند چنانچه در ممالک غرب این نهضت روزبروز در ترقیّ و ادبیّاتشان منتشر است مسیحی نهضت یهود رفورم شده شبهۀ نیست که به مسیحیّت نزدیکتر و با روح این عصر موافقتر است ولی نکته مهمّه این است که حتیّ یهود اصلاحیّون نیز قدمی از محوّطۀ محدودۀ دیانت قدمی بیرون نگذاشتند و میکوشند که قوم را در چهار دیوار آهنین عصبیّت و افتخارات موروثه قومیّه و عدم زاوجت و اختلاط با اجناس دیگر محبوس نگاه دارند و دل را بارض موعود فلسطین و تأسیس وطنیّت و سلطنت خوش میکنند و روزی بیاید که یهودیّه جدیده اعاده و معبد عظیم تجدید گردد و قوم اسرائیل خدای اسرائیل را عبادت نمایند و لذا حتی نهضت یهود معلمین یک دیانت عقبیّه محدودۀ قویّه وطنیّه فلسطینی است و اینگونه عصبیّتها ناچار از مقامت با عصبیّت های سائره و تأسیس میدان جدید تکافح و تنازع خواهد بود . مسلمّ هر چند در کلام خود مسیح چنین بود که آنحضرت برای اقوام هدایت گوسفندان گم شده اسرائیل ظاهر شده و حوّاری را امر فرمود که برای اقوام دیگر نروند ولی پس از صعود آن حضرت حواری چنین از او استفاده و استفاضه کردند که مأمور بتبعات همه اقوامند و باید برای نشر تعالیم آن حضرت باقطار عالم سفر نمایند و هرگاه حواری پس از صعود آن حضرت باینگونه توضیح نمیدادند بلکه بر همان مفهوم تحت اللفظ کلام مذکور آنحضرت تجم مینمودند آئین مسیح نیز مانند یک شبه عالی الفکر آئین یهود شده و تا کنون هم از آن محوطه محدوده عصبیّت بیرون نمیآید ولی به توضیحات حوّاری چنانچه از تعمقّ در اناجیل و کتب و اعمال
نجم باختر
جلد 15 . شماره 7 اکتوبر 1924
صفحه 1 - 1
از بیانات حضرت عبدالبهاء
جسمانیّات اگر در ظلّروحانیّات باشد ترقیّ میکند و الا ایّامی چند نمیگذرد هباء منبشاء میشود نتیجه نمی کند مثل تخمی میماند که ریشه نکند یا دانه درختی که ریشه نکند سبز میشود ایّامی چند سبز است و خرّم است صفائی دارد و لطافتی دارد لکن زود خشک میشود نتیجه ندارد اصلا خرمن اندوخته نمیشود ثمر حاصل نمیشود امّا اگر امور مادیّات مستند بر معنویّات شود یعنی در تحت حکم معنویّات باشد آن مثل دانه میماند که ریشه بکند این است که از آن نتایج عظیمه در ملک و ملکوت حاصی میشود چقدر نفوس در این جبل پیداشدند که در مادیّات در اعلی طبقه بودند چه خیابانها ساختند چه زحمتها کشیدند لکن ابدا نه نتیجه نه اثری نه ثمری میسرّ هیچ اثری نیست حضرت موسی تأسیسات معنوی فرمود بعد از سه هزار سال در عالم مادیّات حالا مارس ساخته اند آن معنویّات حتیّ در عالم مادیّات چه مارسی چه مصافی چه محاسی شده و بجهت آنکه مستند بر معنویّات بوده سه هزار سال و کسور است حالا تازه آن معنویّات اینطور حکم در عالم مادیّات پیدا کرده هزاران هزار طفل تربیت میشود هزاران هزار ایتام رعایت میشود هزاران هزار عجزه رعایت میشود همچنین حالا ببینید چه دستگاهی است دیگر در جمیع عالم ببینید چه خبر است در امریکا مدارس بسیار و مجامع و معابد بسیار یهود تأسیس کرده اند بسیار مرتبّ و منظمّ حالا این از چه چیز است در این ایّام در امریکا اینگونه تأسیسات این مدارس و مجامه و محلّ عجوز تأسیس شده از تأثیرات تأسیساتی است که حضرت موسی کرده است سه هزار سال پیش ، باری احبّای الهی فکرتان این باشد که تعالیم الهی را مجری بدارید این است که جان بعالم میربخشد این است که انسان را زنده میکند این است که روی شما را در پیش جمال مبارک سفید میکند عمل بموجب تعالیم الهی سبب عزّت ابدیّه شما است دو هزار میلیون نفوس است یعنی آنچه استعداد است در روی ارض این دو هزار ملیون بهوی و هوس خود متحرّکه اسیر عالم طبیعت اند حالا شما که معدود قلیلی هستید یا نیستید باین دو هزار ملیون یک هیجانی کنید که جمیع حرکات و سکناتتان بموجب تعالیم الهی باشد ممتاز از بین ناس باشید شما ببینید که در نقطه تراب لصافت چقدر نفوذ دارد در عالم تراب که اینطور باشد دیگر در عالم قلوب چه خبر است جمیع این خلق مثل عمنوری که در پنجه عقاب باشد در چنگ هوی و هوس این هوی و هوس و نفسش امّاره چه چیز است مقتضیّات عالم طبیعت است چیز موهومی نیست طبیعت نفسش امّاره است اگر طفلی را بحالت طبیعت بگذاری تربیتش نکنی حیوان میماند مقتضای طبیعت است و ارتکاب هر امر ضدّ مردمی را میکند « و مااتره نفسی انّ النفس لاقارةبه لسئوالا مارحم ربّی انّ ربّی غفور رحیم » معنی آن چه چیز است یعنی طبیعت انسان را دلالت بسود کند دلالت به شرّی میکند در مقتضای طبیعت منازعه در بقا است از مقتضای طبیعت حبّ نفس است از مقتضای طبیعت غضب است از مقتضای طبیعت حیله و خدعه است از مقتضای طبیعت حبّ غلبه است ببینید چطور این ملوک و دول بهم ریخته اند چه چیز است مقتضای طبیعت است نفس امّاره که میگویند این است ببینید که چه میکنند این نیست مگر از مقتضای عالم طبیعت ببینید طبیعت چگونه حکمران است در این دنیا .
تدیّن و تمدّن
اگرچه احوال ملل از میان رفتۀ قبل از تاریخ بدرستی منکشف نیست و وسعت و ثمرۀ وسائل
صفحه 2 - 1
بدرجۀ نه که عقائد و عوائد جمعیّات انسان قدیم را شامل گردد امواج حوادث آنرا بقعر بحر نامتناهی فرو برده و آن آثار در خلف حجب متواری ماند ولی آن خشت های اوّلی که انسان قدیم برای بنیان رفیع تمدّن گذاشت و در اعصار متوالیه طبقات آن چنان بهم برآمده تا بمقام امروز رسیده اهمیّت اعمال آنان را درین قمر میشد و بناء مجید گواهی میدهد کشف آتش و اجتماع زرع وابداع غزل و و نسج در ساخت ابنیّه و ترتیب دفنیه و البسه و کشتی رانی در دریا و امثال آن هر روز چنان معمولی و از امور بسیط در زندگانی است که کمتر در نظر میکند که همه این اشیاء یک وقتی نبود و انسان قدیم آنها را بعرصۀ وجود و شهود آورد و مثل طبقه اوّلی برای بناء تمدّن برقرار داشت نه تنها آنچه افسانه مانند در کتب تواریخ اسیر مسطور است بلکه آثاری که از تحت طبقات تراب درآمده بخوبی واضح داشت که ریشه تمدّن و تدیّن لازم لاینفکّ جامعۀ بشری بوده اند و مطابق درجات مدارکشان قدم بقدم متساوی و طریق تکامل می پیمودند و چنانچه تسهیلات طرق زندگانی مادّی و تنظیم اجتماع موافق با اوضاع حاضرۀ وقت در تحت یک فوائد و اسلوبی جاری و تمدّنی را تشکیل میداد و همچنین عقائد روحانیّه و عواطف وجدانیّه و آداب و قوانین مقدّسه مطابق اوضاع آن محیط جلوه داشت که مانند روح در قالب آن تمدّن منشاء آثار و مصدر اعمال بود و فی الحقیقه توان گفت که تمدّن هر قومی مانند سایه و ایمانش تدیّنشان و تدیّن روح و قوّۀ باطنیّه آن تمدّن بود نباز علیه انفکاک یکی از آندو از دیگر و یا مخالفتشان با یکدیگرمانند انفکاک مثلا زمین و یا انفصال نور از عین است تمدّن بی تدیّن مانند سراب است و تدیّن مخالف با تمدّن نقش بر آب پس هرگاه مابینشان مخالفتی بنظر آید ناچار باید یکی از آندو چنان تعدیل و توضیح یابد که با آن دیگر موافق گردد چنانچه هرگاه تمدّن عصر مقتضی امری باشد که علی الظاهر مخالف یکی از رسوم و سنند منتسب بدین است بایستی آن امر را چنان تعدیل کرد که موافق آن مادّه دینیّه شود و یا آن مادّه را چنان توضیح داد که موافق آن امر گردد مثلا مفهوم تحت لفظ بعضی از کتب دینیّه چنان بوده که کرۀ زمین ثابت و افلاک دائر حول آنند و همین نیز رأی جمهور قدماء فلیکین و مبنای علم افلاک و تمدّن قدیم بود ولی چون بعلم جدید ثابت شد که زمین یکی از سیّارات عائله شمسیّه است که کلّ آن سیّارات حول شمس طائف و متحرّک لذا دانشمندان ناچار از آنند که منقولات دینیّه را چنان توضیح دهند که موافق آن گردند و نیز مفهوم ظاهربعضی کتب دینیّه چنان که خدا عالم را درشش روز بیافرید ولی چون بعلم طبقات الارض ثابت است که عالم آفرینش در صدها هزار سال تمامیّت یافت لذا ناچار از آن است که یوم مذکور در کتاب مقدّس را بدوری از ادوار طویله تفسیر نمود و یا مثلا اعمار طولانی نفوس مذکوره در کتاب را باعمار طوائف و یا مدّت نفوذ و اقتدار توضیح و و یا قصّۀ طوفان که ظاهر کتاب این است که شامل عموم بود چون علما ثابت است که عمومی نبوده مجبور بر این است مراد از لفظ ارض همه زمین نباشد و یا آنکه اصل حکایت یک تأویلی روحانی داشته باشد و بهمین وتیره در حقوق و مسائل اجتماعی مثلا هرگاه تمدّن عصر مقتضی عملی یا فعلی از اصول اجتماعی باشد که مخالف بالبنی ظواهر موضوعات دینیّه است و اهمیّت آن در عالم اجتماعی معروف و لزومیّت آن متحققّ و متیقنّ پس ناچار از آن است که آن ظواهر مفقود بنوعی توضیح شود که مطابق آن گردد و مخالفت از میان برود مثلا در تمدّن بعضی از اقوام صد ها سال مطابق با وضعیّت اجتماعی و کیفیّت زندگانیشان چنین بود که چشمی را در مقابل
